Golden Age of Light Music: Light Music While You Work, Vol. 5

Audio Remasterer: Alan Bunting.
Liner Note Author: David Ades.
Guild Music's fifth volume of their popular Golden Age of Light Music: Light Music While You Work series proves that the demand for these vintage Decca classical recordings remains strong. Beginning in 1940, the BBC began airing a program of light music which was intended to boost morale during the war. The recordings focused on music by smaller "light" orchestras rather than more dramatic, symphonic fare. The program was such a success that Decca began issuing a series of 78 rpm records which could be played in the factories when the program was off the air. The music featured in Volume Five again dips from that pool of Decca recordings which were made between 1942 and 1947. Now-familiar names from previous Guild collections include the orchestras of Harry Fryer, Richard Crean, and and Harold Collins. The short pieces generally range between two and three minutes each, with a focus largely on uptempo waltzes and marches. ~ Timothy Monger